Category: Hot Topic

"The President has in fact, contrary to stereotype, been actively engaged in trying to fight climate change and will continue to do so." -Tony Snow, explaining how Mr. Bush has been a leader in the fight against climate change

The times they are a-changing and none too soon I might add. Another movie about global warming is being released through Regal Cinemas. The Great Warming is not about convincing a skeptical public that global warming is real. We are way past that hurdle.

Instead, this movie focuses on what is happening to the planet right now–melting glaciers and rising seas are the falling dominoes which bring about more severe weather, droughts, disease and famine.

Most importantly, The Great Warming highlights what people are doing right now to turn things around. Here is a review of the movie from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. These are two of my favorite paragraphs from this article:

The movie makes a big point of showing us how the Evangelical Christian movement is leaping on the global-warming bandwagon with the concept of "Creation Care," and predicts the Republican Party won’t be able to duck the matter much longer.

Indeed, "The Great Warming" ends with a very stern warning, suggesting, in so many words, that the current leaders who, in the face of all this evidence, do nothing about the problem run the risk of going down in history next to Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot.

Here is a link to the trailer on YouTube. Watch it and then reach out to someone who is your ideological opposite and take them to see this move.

"For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us." –Astronaut Donald Williams

The Center for American Progress has written a terrific piece summarizing a recent study co-authored by Tufts University and Friends of the Earth which analyzed over 100 academic articles on climate change and demonstrates that a 2°C (or 3.6°F) temperature increase will cost the global economy over 20 trillion dollars. The whole article needs to be read in its entirety, but I want to highlight what I consider to be the most important paragraphs:

The United States generates 25 percent of global warming emissions and is therefore in a unique position to utilize existing technology to save trillions of dollars and begin curbing the effects of global warming. Scientists currently predict nearing a two degree global temperature increase within the next 25 years, which could lead to decreased crop yields, water shortages, and diminished economic growth in developing countries.

The Earth’s temperature has already increased 1.5°F degrees over the last century, leading to rising sea levels, a decrease in snow coverage, the retreat of glaciers and sea ice, and an increase of droughts. Yet the Bush administration actively denies the problem, even stripping the 2005 energy bill of language affirming the science of climate change.

States are stepping up to the plate in the face of government inaction. Twenty-two states have enacted Renewable Portfolio Standards that require electric utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources. And in September, California became the first state to adopt a mandatory 25 percent cut in emissions causing global warming by 2020.

Businesses have also been acting on the knowledge that the Tufts University study confirms: inaction will likely be far more costly than the price of reducing emissions now. Insurance industry experts calculate that their losses for hurricanes alone will increase by 45 percent if global warming persists. Industry giants like DuPont and BP have been able to significantly cut their emissions within ten years, and numerous studies predict that this trend will create many new industries and jobs.

The Environmental Defense Action Fund has put together a website which encourages citizens to find out where their elected federal Representatives stand on global warming. Politicians need to learn that climate change matters to everyone, especially with the people who politicians are most interested in–voters.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a good article on Mayor Nickel’s efforts to keep Seattle positioned as an innovator and leader in the fight against global warming. The article provides a valuable overview of the mayor’s plan and then breaks these steps into actions that can be taken by citizens, business, and government. The article can be found here.

According to How to Be a Grouch by Oscar the Grouch, there are many things to help put you in a grouchy place. Some of his suggestions include: birthdays, coat hangers, and people who think they are funny but aren’t. He also devotes a whole section on how to get a bad night’s sleep. After all nothing is better to start out a lousy day than to be tired and grumpy. For me the best way to get a sleepless night is to watch video of the Greenland Glacier rapidly sloughing into the Atlantic. As a public service to all grouches, here are links to help you have a crappy day. BBC News: Greenland ice-melt ‘speeding-up’CBS News: Global Warning Here is my choice for track two of the playlist: Radiohead with Just from The Bends